New York just might be the best city in the world for those of us who love a great burger. From Harlem to Hell's Kitchen, New York City is home to countless amazing burger joints where you can indulge your carnivorous cravings alongside some of the city's best beer. When the mood strikes, try out one of these terrific burger and beer restaurants on for size.

PJ Clarke's: PJ Clarke's Midtown location has been a New York institution since it opened its doors in 1884. This charming old-world saloon is known throughout the city and around the world for its perfectly-executed burgers, like the Cadillac, topped with bacon and American cheese, and the Hamburger Au Poivre, slathered in pepper sauce and Vermont cheddar. What's even more impressive than the burgers at PJ Clarke's is the menu of 20-something beers, from craft beers like Left Hand's Milk Stout to Budweiser.

Black Iron Burger: Black Iron Burger does two things, and it does them both exceptionally well: beer and burgers. Whether it's the food or drink that lures you into this Alphabet City eatery, there's something to suit every palate here, including a list of 27 beers from around the world and burgers topped with everything from seaweed and wasabi to hash browns.

Corner Bistro: Widely regarded as the home of Manhattan's best burger, this West Village hotspot has had a well-earned and loyal following for years. However, it's not just the burgers that have patrons coming back for more — Corner Bistro's bohemian atmosphere and lengthy beer list have also made it a hit for everyone from college students to grandparents.

Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer: With burgers and beer advertised right in the name, Black Tap has a lot to live up to. Luckily, this Soho bar and burger haunt serves up plenty of both. You won't find anything too wild on this menu — instead, you can enjoy classic toppings like American cheese, crispy onions, bacon, mushrooms, and chipotle mayo, in addition to dive bar beers like Miller High Life and PBR, Mexican offerings like Tecate and Modelo, and a list of craft beer.

For a major city, Boston certainly has the feel of a college town. We suspect that's largely due to the huge number of top-tier colleges and universities that call Beantown home, from Northeastern to Tufts, but it may also have something to do with the student-heavy bar culture, as well. For college kids looking for a bar where they can enjoy the company of their fellow students, check out these watering holes:

The Wild Rover: Those who enjoy the frenetic energy of the club scene will love The Wild Rover. One part Irish pub, one part dance club, and one part music venue, this eclectic nightspot has become a hit among college students looking to enjoy a wild night on the town.

Biddy Early's: There's no denying that college kids love a dive bar, which is why you'll find Biddy Early's packed with 20-somethings nearly every night of the week. It's not just the long list of beer and cocktails patrons love, however —Biddy Early's also has darts, video games, and a menu full of fried foods that keep their customers coming back for more.

Corner Tavern: Quaint, low-key, and decidedly more upscale than many college bars, Back Bay's Corner Tavern is where you'll find local students when they're eager to impress a date or show their parents their new city. Expertly prepared dishes, like herbed goat cheese with spicy tomato chutney and wild mushroom and truffle flatbread, pair perfectly with the Tavern's long list of specialty beers, ciders, and cocktails.

Bukowski Tavern: Boston college students may have access to the best the world has to offer, from luxury apartments to world-class restaurants, but sometimes, even the most cultured among us just want to enjoy a cheap drink — and that's where Bukowski Tavern comes in. This wallet-friendly hipster dive serves over 100 beers alongside dangerously decadent dishes like chili cheese dog sliders, tater tot poutine, and a lengthy menu of burgers.

BevSpot, a software startup based in Boston, is creating technology that’s changing the way restaurants and bars do business.

We recently sat down with Rory Crawford, BevSpot's CEO and co-founder, to chat about the current state of the restaurant and bar industries around the world. Why? These industries are missing out on a crucial aspect needed to run any successful business—great technology.

Two years ago, Rory envisioned a software platform that would fix this, that would revolutionize establishments all over the world.

So he set out to change things.

Before starting the company, Rory says he was just another wannabe entrepreneur with nothing but a good idea and the strong desire to see it through. "BevSpot was just a myth—an idea that I had no ability to build myself. Building a true technology company takes great engineers, who are incredibly hard to find."

New York's nightlife scene is famous around the globe, but equally important, if not as talked about, is how the city recovers from long nights on the town. Throughout Manhattan, Saturday brunch is the cure for all that ails the previous night's weary partiers, and no neighborhood serves up the kind of variety you'll find in Hell's Kitchen. If you want a good excuse to gather your friends for a good meal (and maybe take in a little hair of the dog), these Hell's Kitchen bars have got you covered.

Havana Social

Cuban food aficionados will love this adorable 10th Avenue restaurant and bar. Cuban sandwiches, fried plantains, mac and cheese empanadas, and an extensive menu of tapas pair perfectly with Havana Social's expertly crafted Latin-inspired drinks, like coconut mojitos and mango martinis.

Kashkaval Garden

Your favorite brunch foods are improved with a Mediterranean twist at Kashkaval Garden on 9th Avenue. This intimate bar and restaurant serves up your standard brunch dishes, like egg scrambles and yogurt parfaits, with classic Mediterranean ingredients, from honey and dates to cucumber and feta, added. Their brunch cocktails are just as delicious, from champagne with pomegranate molasses to mimosas and bellinis.

Hourglass Tavern

Hourglass may call itself a tavern, but it serves an expertly prepared brunch menu you're unlikely to find in your average bar. A long list of treats, from scrambled eggs and short rib hash to pumpkin and bacon waffles, are excellent complements to their brunch drinks, like red sangria, cinnamon coffee with whiskey and whipped cream, and bloody marys.

Alfie's Bar & Kitchen

With exposed brick, high-top tables, and a huge array of beer on tap, Alfie's may look like a traditional bar, but its menu tells a different story. Eschewing traditional barroom fare, Alfie's serves an excellent brunch with options like lobster eggs benedict, black kale Caesar salad, and crab and asparagus frittatas. Beer connoisseurs will delight in Alfie's beer menu, which boasts a revolving selection of 35 ciders, ales, pilsners, IPAs, stouts, and fruit beers.

A good bartender can be one of the busiest individuals in the bar. Hustling to keep customer happy, they're making cocktails, pouring beers from a tap, constantly cleaning up at the bar and often having to handle payments.

But great bartenders also entertain their customers. This video features bartender Jason Crawley performing and explaining how to do The Cherry Trick.

Enjoy. We'll be posting more tricks soon...

For wine lovers, the option to purchase their wine online is spectacular. It gives them access to a whole lot of new flavors which otherwise they can’t get. However, there are some terms and conditions for ordering wine online and every person that decides to buy wine online must read through them carefully.

In some cases, retailers offer a no freight charge on wine delivery. This is possible in special promotional offers. A retailer offers free delivery for purchase of more than six bottles or for purchase during holiday season sale. It is always a treat when you get to benefit from such offers! While it is possible to stumble across such cases, you need to be really careful of the source, when you are ordering online so as not to fall prey to a scam.

With more and more retailers setting up online wine businesses, there is a possibility that some wine retailers are fakes. These retailers may be attracting clients and ripping off money by offering to deliver wine for free. Beware of such online wine retailers. For this reason, you should make sure that you thoroughly complete your search before you order wine online.

If you are ordering for the first time, order from a trusted and reliable source which is recommended by a friend or family. Always be sure to read the reviews before placing an order and try to order from an established branded store, so that even if they are offering free delivery or no freight you know that it can be trusted!

There can hardly ever be free delivery wine or wine with no freight charge. Online retailers among other benefits are also able to provide low cost wine. This is because they save on shelf maintenance and wine storage, thus saving on management costs. They deliver wine directly from vineyards, so the extra costs associated with logistics disappears but passes on to clients, as a freight charge for shipment.

You all might know now that I love mexican drinks. I lived there some years and I have a genuine fascination for them. Now I would like to tell you what I know about the mezcal. I took some information from this mexican travel website. I hope you like it!

The Mezcal is another name for the maguey plant. In addition, Mezcal is the generic name for all distilled spirits of agave, and the name of a regional drink, similar to tequila, but usually produced and consumed in the state of Oaxaca. Please note that Mezcal is not the same as the Tequila. Technically, tequila is a form of mezcal, better known as "Tequila's mezcal".

Unlike Tequila, Mezcal can be made from 11 types of endemic agave from Oaxaca, as quishe, PASMO, tepestate, Tobala, Sprat, LARGO, pulque, Blue, White, ciereago, and Mexican. This diversity creates a range similar to varieties of grape flavors. About 90% of mezcal is made from the agave ESPADIN. Mezcal is native to the states of San Luis Potosí, Michoacán, Jalisco, Durango, Morelos, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas.

The fermented agave juice goes back to pre-Columbian times, when the booze was declared "a gift from the gods" by the chief priests and only consumed during sacrificial offerings to the gods and for medicinal use.

When the Spanish conquistadors arrived 400 years ago distillation techniques of the native inhabitants of Mexico were taught and thus was born the first distilled spirit in the Americas: Mezcal.

Zane Lamprey, host of several traveling-drinking shows (including Three Sheets, Drinking Made Easy and Chug, which airs Monday nights at 7:30pm on the National Geographic Channel) has begun a campaign for an accessory no drinker should be without - the Drinking Jacket.

The Drinking Jacket is a hoodie that the Swiss Army would likely wear, while drinking. Which would be often, since we're not entirely sure what the Swiss Army does besides enjoy schnapps and use their knives for anything imaginable.  Incorporated into the Drinking Jacket is a bottle-opener zipper, a neoprene-lined koozie pocket, drinking mitts, a hidden flask pocket which holds the optional metal-detector-proof flask (for this innovation alone we've come up with 3,274 uses) and a sunglass holder (which may be the tipping point, since this author has lost several pairs of sunglasses when day-drinking has turned into night-drinking and outside-drinking has turned into inside-drinking).  It also has everything that you'd want in a hoodie, like deep pockets and a zipper cover (to keep the bottle-opener zipper from hitting you in the face).

Most appealing is that it just looks like a nice hoodie, and the incorporated gadgets are not readily visible.

The campaign ends 12/22/14 so visit thedrinkingjacket.com for more info!

The holidays are the best time to party, relax, and enjoy time with friends and family—which means that there are a lot of people out on the road traveling. According to a Winchester personal injury attorney, police departments across the country step up their “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” enforcement around this time of year because of the increased number of families on the road. Although general public awareness of the dangers of drunk driving is at an all-time high, some people continue to drive impaired. According to MADD, "In 2012, 10,322 people died in drunk driving crashes - one every 51 minutes - and 290,000 were injured in drunk driving crashes."
No matter what your plans are this holiday, you’ll want to plan to avoid impaired driving at all costs. When you set a plan in place, it is easy to avoid intoxicated driving and still have a good time with friends and family. Keep reading to learn about the easiest ways to avoid impaired driving this holiday season.

Host a Holiday Sleepover Shindig

This holiday season, consider hosting a sleepover for a small group of friends or family. Everyone can enjoy the night without worrying about how they're getting home. You can throw a holiday-themed party and get a few air mattresses for guests to crash on at the end of the night. Play games, string popcorn and enjoy serving your loved ones a few guilt-free holiday cocktails, safe in the knowledge no one will be driving home impaired. With a special holiday sleepover, the party doesn’t have to stop when the night ends!

Arrange a Designated Driver

When it comes to having a designated driver, plan ahead so no one feels slighted. Don't wait until last call to decide who is least impaired. As a holiday gift, you might offer to be the designated driver for friends or family. This idea costs you almost nothing, yet shows how much you care. Even if you won't be joining them at the party, offer to pick them up when they call.

Hire a Limo

Using this approach, you can feel free to bar hop or hit up multiple parties without racking up on-the-meter taxi fees or worse, driving impaired. This is a popular trend for New Year’s Eve. Christmas parties are often family-oriented, but New Year’s Eve might be your time to go out and party with friends. Class things up with a limo, and your crew will look fresh and stay safe no matter where the night takes you.

Try a Ride-Hailing App

If the budget doesn't allow for a limo, try something new and use a ride-sharing app to order a ride right when you need it. With Uber and Lyft, smartphone apps connect paying riders with drivers. Be aware, these are ride-hailing services, so someone will pick you up in their own car and transport you. These services perform background checks on their drivers, and are sometimes cheaper and faster than a taxi.

This infographic was sent to us by Brian O’Shea who is the Director of a company called HomeBrew West in Ireland.

The infographic entitled Wine, Beer & Christmas Cheer! A holiday drinking guide! highlights the perfect pairings for Turkey, Ham, Duck and a range of other Christmas dinner options. Discover the secrets to choosing a dessert wine, and some top tips on enjoying a glass of bubbly during the festive season.

We hope that this holiday drinking guide will help you find the right food & alcohol pairings this holiday season. Download the Holiday Drinking Guide Now!

Ladies and gents, the holidays are here! Wait until you see all of the amazing beverage-related ideas in store to make home parties, office parties and every party the place be. This holiday season is all about thinking out-of-the-box for fantabulous gift solutions. Whether you are getting a nice gift for your closest drinking buddies, or you just want to liven up the party, these creative items will quench your thirst for the perfect gift.

Wine Glass and Bottle Combo

Give the gift that keeps on giving with this conveniently crafted wine glass and bottle combination. Reduce holiday kitchen traffic by reducing glass refill trips to the fridge. This handy, all-in-one decanter-style bottle and glass extravaganza is the perfect design to keep hosts, hostesses and guests in the spirit. Plus, it is a fun piece if any of your friends are wine aficionados.

Wine Label Couture

Today's top recommendation is all about adding creative holiday flair to favorite wine bottles. Be the hit of the party with custom designed and personalized wine labels. Design labels around favorite holiday themes, celebrations and personal festivities. Check the internet for several sites that can help you design the perfect wine bottle labels for the most memorable holiday cheer.

If you’re looking for the biggest parties, the top DJs and the best drinking deals in the Columbus area then look no further than the IAMLYFE, DrinkedIn and Ivanabitch sponsored parties near Ohio State University in Columbus.

Every Friday for the next four weeks IAMLYFE is offering everyone the chance to enjoy "Power Hour". Saving $10 on the entry fee which covers both cover and all your drinks couldn't be more of a no-brainer:

1. Download DrinkedIn mobile app from Google Play or the Appstore
2. Go to the BarDeals screen and download the EndZone's Power Hour coupon

This means that from 10pm – 11pm you get unlimited drinks. You’ll make back your money by just having a couple of drinks, but you could easily make your way through at least 10 absolutely free!

The "Power Hour" covers the Ivanabitch based cocktails, there are 10 different flavored vodkas and at least several will be featured at the EndZone... and you can try them for just $10. Find out which ones you like, come back the next week pay another $10 and drink a load more. Then do it again the next week, and once more after that.

Don’t miss out on this fantastic deal, every Friday night at the EndZone you can party with 3000 people and make it a weekend to remember. This weekend the party is hosted by Jay Davi, DJ IQ and DJ Masha and stars DJ E-V... and they’ll be sure to keep the party going all night long. No better way to prepare for a Buckeyes game the next day, eh?

Drinking can be an expensive habit—unless you know how and when to save a buck or two. Here are eight tips for saving money while drinking.

1. Go to Happy Hour

If you shop around, you can find some really great happy hour specials. Take advantage of those.

Start your night early. Do the bulk of your drinking during the early (AKA inexpensive) hours. If you are already buzzing by the end of happy hour, you won’t have to spend much money once prices go up. Or, you can go home and drink when the happy hour specials wear off.

2. Drink at Home

If you don’t want to go out so early, have your own happy hour at home. We all know drinking our own booze is way less expensive than buying (and tipping) at the bar.

3. Take a Road Trip

Does your state have an insanely high alcohol tax? Consider a little road trip across the border. Venture across the state lines and reap the rewards of low taxes.

For years we’ve been told that drinking encourages weight gain. In fact, that’s why so many beer companies created light beers. They cut the calories to entice weight conscious beer lovers to continue consuming their products.

What if we told you that there’s a possibility that alcohol actually assists in weight loss? We’d definitely have your attention, wouldn’t we?

Previous Beliefs

In years gone by, alcohol has been demonized by researchers and nutritionists worldwide. In fact, we’ve been told that a slice of cake includes a similar amount of calories as a glass of wine. We’ve heard that a couple of beers is like drinking a glass full of cream. Indeed, we’ve been instructed that the immense caloric content in alcoholic beverages of this nature will destroy our livers and our waistlines.

Therefore, it’s no wonder that those of us concerned with calorie counts and numbers on the scale tend to veer from beer. Perhaps this new research will shed some light on the subject and give us the approval for an appletini. Let’s find out…

New Research

Apparently, the guy that discovered the link between alcohol consumption and liver disease in the 70s, also believed that alcohol could contribute to weight loss. In fact, he was so convinced of this opinion that he started doing additional research in the 90s to support his theory. Let’s take a look at what he did.

Proponents of alcohol’s health benefits go farther back than most people realize. In fact, the Apostle Paul, in the Bible, tells Timothy to take some wine for his stomach. So, it’s little wonder that researchers are starting to discover the medicinal value found in the fermented vine.

Monkeys and Margaritas

Researchers trained monkeys to drink alcohol before giving them a vaccination. The control group enjoyed sugar water at its leisure while the test subjects had access to the hard stuff. Then, they studied the results.

Everything in Moderation

The research doesn’t necessarily tell us whether there were Goldshläger shots or Jäger bombs, but it reveals that some monkeys liked to get tipsy.

Apparently they reacted the way some people do; if it was there, they chose to drink it. Others made better decisions and drank in moderation. 

While Paul recommended that Timothy take a little wine for his belly, he was direct in the quantity--a little. His suggestion was a smart one because excessive drinking, on the monkey’s behalf, didn’t positively affect the results. Speaking of results, you’ll be amazed!

It doesn’t get much better than enjoying a beer at our favorite bar. But trying a local brew at an exotic pub in a foreign land is pretty exciting too.

However, any time you venture out of your comfort zone, you increase the risk of getting scammed. If you are traveling abroad, be on the lookout for potential scams while drinking.

No One Can Scam Me!

These days, most of us are on the lookout for online scam. We know about the Nigerian prince who need money, fake emails that ask for our Social Security Number, and the scam websites that offer counterfeit products. And most of us know how to report an internet scam.

Rarely do we think twice about fraudsters who might personally throw the scams in our face. But those guys are out there, waiting for some vulnerable sucker to take the bait.

Here are two examples of drinking scams that are taking place right now in bars all over the world.

It’s nearly time for one of the highlights of the beer drinking year, Oktoberfest. Famous the world over for copious amounts of beer, Bavarian food and dirndl wearing women, Oktoberfest is a 16 day festival established in 1810 and this year will run from 20th September to 5th October.

Oktoberfest takes place in an area called Theresienwiese near Munich’s centre. Last year about 6.4 million people came to the festival and between them consumed 114 oxen, 58 calves and 6.7 million litres of beer!

While Oktoberfest is a wonderful exposition of Bavarian culture, for those reading this article I expect the main draw is the beer. There are actually very strict rules over which beers can be served at Oktoberfest; they must conform to the Reinheitsgebot, otherwise known as the “German Beer Purity Law” or the “Bavarian Purity Law” which states that only water, barley and hops may be used in brewing. Beers must also be a minimum of 13.5% Stammwürze; this is a measurement that is used to express the amount of extract in the pitched wort (the liquid extracted from the mashing process).

Furthermore, the beers must be brewed within the city limits of Munich. As such there are only six breweries that can produce Oktoberfest beer. They are: 

• Augustiner-Bräu

Coming to us from HomeBrewWest is the following infographic that shows the biggest beer festivals in all of Europe.

Click on the thumbnail to view the full sized infographic.

These days, it seems the internet rules all forms of information acquisition. If you want to know it, the internet will provide it.

Some people have gone so far as to claim print is dead. Fortunately, that isn’t true. Print is alive and well—which is a good thing. While the internet does have its uses, nothing can replace tried and true publications like magazines.

Magazines with Spirit

If you are an honest to goodness alcohol connoisseur, you’ll be happy to hear there are several magazines created with you in mind.

There are plenty of publications devoted to six packs (abs, unfortunately), fashion, beauty supplies, cars and other nonsense, but the alcohol publications are harder to come by.

That’s why we consulted the magazine professionals at Priority One Clearing. Priority One Clearing is a magazine subscription clearing house. Therefore, they know allll about the good publications to buy—no matter the industry.

Alcohol is good for your sex life, right? It gives you the confidence you would otherwise lack. Chatting up that hot blonde at the bar is way easier after a drink or two.

That may be true, but that’s where the positive side effects end. In general, booze is bad for your sex life.

Alcohol Causes Erectile Dysfunction

We all laugh at those commercials advertising little blue pills for old guys. But sadly, erectile dysfunction doesn’t just plague the older population. Many men as young as 30 struggle with impotence.

There are many things that can lead to erectile dysfunction—poorly executed exercises, low testosterone, obesity, heart problems. Some of the causes of erectile dysfunction are psychological or stress-induced. However, one of the most common instigators of ED is alcohol.

We all know alcohol affects our brain. But did you know it affects your penis too?!